PaL

PAL may refer to several concepts in electronics and broadcasting. The most widely known is Phase Alternating Line, an analog television color-encoding system used in many regions of the world. Introduced in the 1960s, PAL is a 50-field-per-second system with 625 lines per frame, delivering 25 frames per second. The chrominance information is carried as two color-difference signals, and the phase of the color signal is alternated on successive lines to compensate for phase errors introduced during transmission. This design provides improved hue stability and remains compatible with black-and-white receivers. Regional variants such as PAL-B/G, PAL-D/K, and PAL-I exist to accommodate different broadcasting standards and frequencies. Digital television and video formats have largely supplanted PAL in broadcasting, though the term remains common in historical and regional contexts.

Programmable Array Logic (PAL) refers to a class of simple programmable logic devices used to implement combinational logic in digital circuits. A PAL device contains a programmable AND array feeding a fixed OR network, enabling designers to realize multiple logic functions on a single chip. PAL devices were widely used from the late 1970s through the 1990s and provided an affordable step between fixed-logic families and more flexible programmable logic options. They were eventually supplanted by more capable EPLDs and FPGAs, but they played a significant role in the evolution of digital design.